Grocery Delivery Service? Why not?!

I’ve heard about grocery delivery services here and there over the past few years. I’m not the earliest of adopters, so this has not really tempted me. My father bought groceries at the store just like his father before him, so why should I break the chain? However, I recently discovered a website/app that just might change my mind: Instacart.

On the Instacart website or app, you can select what store you’d like your groceries to come from and what items you want, and then a screened and trained personal shopper will get to work for you! I was skeptical at first because I assumed I would be charged an arm and a leg to get my weekly food stuffs. On the contrary, the pricing model seems reasonable. For each individual grocery item, the price is clearly listed for you. The pricing doesn’t necessarily match what they would be if you picked-up the items in the store because Instacart sets their own prices. However, if you think an item is unfairly priced, Instacart encourages you to contact them so they can look into it for you.

As for the delivery charges, Instacart offers a few options to suit your needs. Your first delivery is free, and then normal delivery charges range from $3.99 to $9.99 depending on the total value of the groceries you purchase and how quickly you want them. For $99 per year you can join Instacart Express, which waives your delivery charges on all orders (assuming you order over $35 worth of groceries and you don’t need them sooner than two hours). There’s a 14-day free trial for this service, so feel free to try before you buy.

The next time you run out of food in your apartment and are too tired to run to the store, you’ll have another option instead of pizza or Chinese food. There are definitely other companies in the same business, but Instacart is the most established option I’ve found to date. It might not suit your budgetary limitations, but Instacart is at least worth a try!